CM Storm Sentinel Advance Gaming Mouse

Cooler Master has just released its first gaming mouse under the CM Storm branding, and it happens to be quite good. Targeting more serious gamers, there’s the ability for robust macros, all of which will be saved right on the mouse itself. To add to the cool-factor, there’s even color-varying LEDs and an OLED display.

Usage, Final Thoughts

As you can probably tell, Cooler Master didn’t want to go too lightly on their first gaming mouse release. In fact, their first release is in some ways more robust than mice from other companies who have been producing such product much longer. Combined with both the blingy, but not too overwhelming, design, and the robust software that covers pretty much everything, this is definitely a mouse set out to accomplish goals.

At first, I didn’t really care much for the actual “feel” of the mouse, and by that, I mean how it felt to hold and use. For the most part, I felt like the mouse was controlling me, not that I was in control of the mouse. Maybe it was practice, I don’t know, but as I use the mouse now, it doesn’t feel too bad. In fact, I quite like it, and wouldn’t hesitate to use it in any of my gaming.

One slight complaint I have, and this might effect only me, is that the surface material of the mouse does little for retaining great control when you’re sweating. I find this to be less of a problem with glossier mice, such as the Logitech G5. Here, I found I had to kept wiping my heads on my clothes because they were getting too sweaty. Gross, but that’s how it is. Again, this may vary from person to person, not to mention the temperature in that general area.

Although I really enjoyed this mouse overall, the last thing I’d complain about is the fact that the software isn’t entirely intuitive, at least when it comes to Macro and Scripts. As it is right now, I’ve never actually had a macro function on the Sentinel Advance, even though I have clearly had some loaded on there.

I don’t quite know the reason, but when in game, and on the proper profile, my macros simply would not work. I began to wonder if macros may have required a special key-press on the keyboard, but it sounds doubtful. Either way, the manual available on the CM Storm website doesn’t help clarify the issue any. I plan to find out from Cooler Master what I did wrong, and it could be I am simply overlooking something that’s probably simple. But after 45 minutes, I got nowhere.

The Sentinel Advance is set to retail for $69.99 USD when it his various retailers (I’ve yet to see one selling the mouse at the time of publishing). At first, I thought that $70 was a bit much to ask for a mouse, but I think back to the gaming mice I’ve purchased in the past for $50 – $60 that had far less features. In some ways, the asking price is somewhat reasonable.

What it comes down to is this. If you’re a hardcore gamer, then this mouse isn’t going to be a bad choice, for very obvious reasons. The level of customization is intense, and the bling features such as the LED lights and OLED screen are a definite plus. For those who don’t take gaming too seriously, there are lesser-expensive models out there. It comes down to both wants and needs. All I can say is that after using it, I’d have no problem using it for all my gaming needs.

Pros

Feature-robust gaming mouse.

DPI range of 100 – 5600.

Comfortable (might take some getting used to).

Software allows a lot of customization.

Customized LED color schemes.

Ability to save all settings/macros to the mouse itself.

No driver is required for all the special functionality.

Cons

Creating and running macros can be confusing.

Surface material doesn’t help with sweat.

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